Reply #16: This administration wants dirt on Venezuela.

[icymist]

They've been trying to accuse Chavez of causeing 'instability'
of Latin America. They have nothing to back up these claims so now they're going to fire Robertson's guns at them. Check out this August 18 Daily Press Briefing:

QUESTION: And just one more. When you were answering Elise and you're talking about the general policy and the attitude towards Venezuela, you said that the United States has a positive agenda. How do the latest comments from Rumsfeld on his trip to Latin America fit in with that? We went round the houses here a lot when a letter had been written to a congresswoman saying that Venezuela is being unhelpful in Bolivia, but as we all found the State Department and the United States Government is just not prepared to back that up with any kind of evidence. And yet, Rumsfeld again, repeated the same accusation that Venezuela is unhelpful in Bolivia. What's positive about this bandying around accusations that you're not prepared to back up?


MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I think that I don't have anything to add to Secretary Rumsfeld's comments. I think they speak for themselves. I think that there's been a lot of discussion about Venezuela's role in the hemisphere, and not just from the United States but from other countries in the hemisphere as well. And I think that given those comments, it certainly is an issue that bears discussion.


http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2005/51230.htm